Slow Down on Marketing Mark Sanchez

Courtesy of Jessica Bader at The Perpetual Post, this article from The Atlantic hit the inbox yesterday.

Though it’s a quick article, here’s the synopsis:

Tony Lee likens New York Jets rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez to President Barack Obama. Yes, you read that correctly. Actually, he brings up the revelation in the recently-released “Game Change” how despite publicly showing support for now-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, fellow Democrats in Senators Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer were secretly rooting for Obama during the 2008 Presidential primaries. He ponders if NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell may be secretly cheering for Sanchez and the Jets over the establishment that is the Peyton Manning-led Indianapolis Colts.

When Sanchez was drafted last April, quite a few business experts lined up at the door to espouse on how he can become a major boon to the NFL’s efforts in marketing the game to Latino communities across the country. Lee is just the latest person to add to this overall perspective.

Further, Lee said:

His marketing potential and reach dwarfs Manning's. And while commentators such as Rush Limbaugh have gotten in trouble for saying what I am about to suggest, that the NFL wants--needs--Sanchez to succeed even more because he's a Mexican-American who embraces his heritage. The NFL has had trouble attracting fans from America's fastest growing minority group, so NFL executives were probably joyous beyond belief at the future when the Jets drafted Sanchez. Surely, the Jets have often won in spite of Sanchez's rookie mistakes.

Now, as you expect to see from articles on the Internet, commenters ripped Lee’s assessment apart, so read them at your peril. Yet, in a less haughty rage, here’s are three issues with the article;

Potential versus reach: At this time, I give you that Sanchez's marketing potential dwarfs Peyton's, but disagree with the idea that the reach does. Potential is something unrealized and yet to be proven. If Sanchez has all this potential, then where's the reach when he just arrived on the scene and done little so far to suggest that he has earned the reach of Peyton other than being of part of a desired ethnic market?

Not only is Peyton the most omnipresent American sports figure as pitchman during the season, but his greatest impact has come in the offseason (that Sony has him alongside Justin Timberlake is a little strange. Might as well pair a player with Janet Jackson, right?) There isn’t another NFL player that appears in the number of national advertisements that he does nor has the league or Madison Avenue exactly picked out another one just yet.

Putting the cart before the horse, again: Too many stars have burnt out before they truly shined. Why we collectively continue to repeat this doomed history is simple; we spend more time immediately reacting to snapshots of people’s careers and lives than analyzing the body of work as time progresses.

In the duration of his career, not just a few games, Sanchez has to not only win, but play his butt off while doing so. He can't be marketable (at least outside of the NYC/NJ metro area) if he doesn't throw for 250, 300+ yards a game on a consistent basis.

Sanchez, if you haven’t heard, had a pretty rocky rookie campaign, something that other than those seasons for Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger, Atlanta’s Matt Ryan and Baltimore’s Joe Flacco, is expected. Now, if he builds upon this by reversing that touchdown-to-interception ratio and making strides year after year, then Sanchez can capture some of this potential both on and off the field.

Yes, the Jets have to win. Nothing sells like a winner, right? Yet, these Jets are looked upon as one of those run-heavy, QB-don’t-screw-up, tough defensive teams that have won Super Bowls in the past. The 1985 Chicago Bears, 2000 Baltimore Ravens, 2003 Tampa Bay Buccaneers and to an extent, the 2006 Pittsburgh Steelers and 2007 New York Giants fit those moulds (the latter teams had better aerial attacks, but they were better rushing offenses).

To appeal to a broader market, there has to be something exceptional for a marginal quarterback to become a sponsor’s dream. For starters, Sanchez can't be Rex Grossman (that's mandatory). Secondly, Pittsburgh’s Roethlisberger and the Giants’ Eli Manning are certainly two of the top ten QBs in the league, yet they have the advantages of being on two of the more popular teams in the league and for Eli, being Peyton’s brother helps.

If all Sanchez has to offer is his heritage, then, as Jessica Bader reminded her fellow Perpetual Post colleagues, why did the world forget that he wasn’t the only quarterback of Mexican decent playing last week? Leading to point #3;

Wait, the NFL doesn’t appeal to everybody?: Actually, the answer is a resounding no, but that’s stating the obvious. Yet, while Sanchez plays in a larger metropolitan area, it’s Tony Romo who plays for the league’s most beloved and reviled team. Yes, there’s a Mexican-American who plays the so-called most prestigious position in the National Football League; quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys.

Apparently, the league has used Romo in promotional efforts towards Hispanic markets. However, though, we walked though this path before, the only other reason why Romo is known nationwide is because of the tabloid coverage of his relationships with Jessica Simpson and Carrie Underwood.

That doesn’t sound like marketability at all.

Considering that only the federal government seems to have more of a presence in American media than the NFL, the fact that they need such a promotional push to the Hispanic community is admittedly surprising.

So I ask anyone who comes across Scribe to provide some insight because making assumptions about this topic would be foolish. In terms of that community, would it be logical to think that the league’s greatest pull is at least in the West Coast? Maybe broadcasting on unique Spanish-language channels would have helped the cause as opposed to hitting the SAP button? What’s your take?

Say What?!?!: NFL fans, enjoy today to the fullest extent. These are the games that are for us before the non-fans show up to ruin the Super Bowl.

Photo credits to the Newark Star-Ledger, Obsessed with Sports and ESPN.

Imperfect

There’s something about second-guessing that is too easy. Sure, an entire industry – sports media – is founded on looking back and questioning the unsuccessful plays of the last game, but there are times where it’s just… just far too easy.

It’ll be known as The Call and if the New England Patriots somehow find themselves short of at least the third seed in the upcoming playoffs, every person who criticized head coach Bill Belichick will point to the infamous 4th-and-2 as the genesis of all that apparently went wrong.

You know full well that if Kevin Faulk made that catch for the first down, “the HC” would have been a genius, so the idea that there’s such debate and vitriol the day after is actually pretty comical. Probably funnier, if not sadder, is that the people who made Belichick a football demigod have the gall to actually ask if this ill-fated decision has an effect on his legacy (a featured poll in ESPN’s SportsNation).

Yet, enough fist-shaking at the fist shakers, here’s the absolute, fundamental core truth of not just The Call, but of every play in every sport; one’s success comes from another’s failure. An offense doesn’t just score strictly because a player made the right pass or another can smell the goal. A cornerback may have been a step behind; the power forward didn’t do enough to impede his opponent’s progress to the basket; the goalie made a terrible misplay of the header.

On the flip side, we’re conditioned to believe that scoring is everything in sports and that defense, while a nice-looking toy, is optional. The quarterback threw the ball late; the batter swung at a shoulder-high fastball (stupidly, of course); Chris Duhon decides he wants the last play of the first half.

We have to remind ourselves of this because while we will forever be told of how that 4th-and-2 decided this game, few will dare mention that if the Patriots imposed their will for the entire contest, that final 2:23 would have been played out in a completely different manner. If the Patriots’ defense – which was given 34 points from its offense – made their stops late, Tom Brady & company would have taken the victory formation to end the Colts’ undefeated stretch.

It may be a great topic for discussion for a while, but an excellent game as last night’s should serve as testimony to the fact that there has never been a game in the history of sports that was decided by just one play.

After all, The Catch (or The Catch II) didn’t just happen.

The Immaculate Reception didn’t just happen.

Heck, even The Goal That Really Wasn’t didn’t just happen.

Say What?!?!: Another thought to put this to bed: for those who believe that going for it was actually the right call, do you believe it was because of how much faith many instill in Bill Belichick? If this was a neophyte coach like Detroit’s Jim Schwartz or Kansas City’s Todd Haley, how would we receive the decision?
Photo Credit to AP via Yahoo! Sports

KABOOM!

There's a law in the Empire State that declares that buildings cannot be imploded by way of explosives, which is why both Shea and the old Yankee Stadiums (and if the day ever comes in Boston, Fenway Park) will be dismantled. Despite the lack of... well, fun in the process, it actually makes sense; as mentioned in Thursday's video from the Bronx, the Stadium is surrounded by residential properties while Shea is not too far from LaGuardia Airport.

So for those of us who like seeing stuff deflate...



and blow up...



Many thanks to the uploaders.

Apex

Can the Patriots go undefeated? Can the Patriots go undefeated? Can the Patriots go undefeated?

That’s the question of the day every week regarding the NFL. Though there are plenty more questions worth asking, it’s the single question that starts a football conversation these days. So to start this post, let’s just get it out of the way.

While it’s going to be extremely difficult for the New England Patriots to run the table, doing so would hold much more significance than even fellow media types and fans could imagine… right now.

The potential unblemished season has yet to be put in perspective because 1) it’s not as guaranteed as it seems and 2) there are still the playoffs to think about. The 1972 Miami Dolphins are invoked every year a team gets past the middle of October without a loss, yet with the physical changes of the game as well as the changes in the playoff format throughout the last thirty-five years, the concept of going undefeated takes on new meaning.

After losing Super Bowl VI to the Dallas Cowboys, Don Shula sent a message to his team leading into the fall of 1972. He demanded that his team be perfect, to not only win every single game, but to leave no doubt that their loss was an aberration of how great they should be. When the Dolphins went undefeated during the 1972 regular season with a 14-0 record, they were three games ahead of the second-best team in AFC that season, the Pittsburgh Steelers (11-3). The Washington Redskins, the team that Miami would defeat in Super Bowl VII, also finished 11-3, having the NFC’s best mark. Within the AFC East, the Dolphins made the competition look amateurish, as the New York Jets were the division’s second-best at 7-7. Every other team in the league has already lost at least once by Week 3! Unlike the 2007 Patriots, the 1972 Dolphins didn’t have anyone chasing them into November. They also didn’t have free agency to fix any flaws. Shula demanded perfection through execution by essentially the same personnel. Bill Belichick demanded perfection through acquisition (Adalius Thomas, Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth and Wes Welker). Yet, like these Pats, the Dolphins wanted to wipe out the taste of a sour finale the year before.

Okay, there’s that Spygate thing, too.

When this was originally drafted, the Indianapolis Colts hadn't played yet. Adam Vinatieri hadn't missed two crucial field goals on a slippery Qualcomm Stadium field yet. Peyton Manning hadn't thrown five interceptions just yet. The Colts didn't lose two offensive linemen and Dwight Freeney yet. So with their loss to the San Diego Chargers tonight, the prospect of New England going undefeated may have lost a little shine, at least in this scribe's eyes. As hard as that is to believe, just imagine if the Colts ran the table until the Patriots come to play the New York Giants on December 29th? It would have left the champs with a 14-1 record going into their last game of the season; a showdown in Nashville against the Tennessee Titans the next day. The Patriots may have already won, but if Peyton Manning & Co. defeated the Titans, which would have kept only last week’s loss as the deciding factor between the first and second seed. In context, the Patriots would have needed to go undefeated in order to take home-field advantage outright. With the loss in San Diego, there is much more certainty that New England will play at home in the playoffs. A cold Foxboro in late January may be as intimidating as it gets in the league, but how cool would it have been for the Patriots to have to fight to have that edge?

If there is a team that may be able to threaten to slow down, it’s the Steelers. The Steelers have gotten little play nationally because of the dominance of the Pats and Colts, the not-so-surprising fall from grace of the Chargers and the surprise of the Lions, Browns and the defensive unit of the Giants. Yet, Pittsburgh has a top notch defense that can shut down the run and plays pretty well against the pass. With their offense able to score through the air as well as on the ground, this will be another tough test for New England. Yes, they have already faced a potent offense from Indianapolis, but this is a team that also knows what to expect from Belichick over the past few years.

At the end of it all, whether the Patriots finish the 2007 campaign undefeated or not, the only way that the record could even be discussed is if this team wins Super Bowl XLIII. Yet, they will belong in the conversation as one of the greatest teams to ever play the game if they do win the championship. Being that the Boston area is the center of the American sporting universe, do you think they’d really be upset if they lose just once during the season?

Say What?!?!: There is only one person happier about Ohio State’s loss to Illinois than anyone in the states of Michigan, Oregon, Louisiana, West Virginia and Oklahoma… Chris Fowler. Oh, he may not exactly wear the grin on his face this coming Saturday, but being one of the most consistently vocal critics of the Bowl Championship Series, Fowler might now want to embellish. He knows, as well as college football fans all over the country, that those computers – and the BCS brain trust – may find a way to keep the Buckeyes in the national title picture, regardless of their loss. There are going to be two one-loss teams in the plus-one game, whether Kansas or even Hawaii (a non- BCS school) likes it or not.
By the way, check the replay of the Miguel Cotto-Shane Mosley fight when you’re done watching DVR’ed episodes of ‘I Love New York’.

Goal

Note: This was written on January 22, shortly after the AFC and NFC Conference Championships when both Tony Dungy (Colts) and Lovie Smith (Bears) became the first black head coaches to lead their teams to the Super Bowl.





For the first time, not only will there be a black head coach in the Super Bowl, but there will be two. And guess what?

I wish we didn't have to point it out.

Save your "Uncle Tom" and "hater" references for someone else. I'm not your typical sportswriter or fan. In fact, I'm probably a little more aware of the history of sports than most people. Aware that first and foremost, there is much more I can learn about the games and the world off the field, whether it was the days of Fritz Pollard or the rumblings of fleet-footed Maurice Jones-Drew. For anyone to call themselves a true fan and a true scribe, they must acknowledge what has existed before you, with you and what will come after you. I am also aware of the slow progress of fellow minorities in this business as well as society at large. Being the lightweight, lightskinned, black kid from Castle Hill projects that 'talked white' forced me to be a little more keen and studious of the history of the world; doing a bit more than pondering how the hell I ended up in the projects in the first place. I digress…

Until I got to high school, I never gave a thought about coaches in sports. The only coaches I knew about were the ones that coached my favorite teams. Walsh & Seifert, Riley & Van Gundy, Cox, Keenan for a couple of years. Great or at least good coaches in their own right who knew what it took to win championships through building a team that believed in the unified goal of winning (or trying to win) the final postseason games. As each person who is writing or thinking about the historic accomplishment, I was a kid who despite knowing that minorities were not holding the majority of management and coaching positions, only cared about the men and women playing the games I loved. However, when Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy (very good friends off the field) coached their teams into Super Bowl XLI, the prevailing thought I had was not "this is unbelievable".

I thought about a recent job interview.

I was asked by the interviewer questions that I thought were a bit pervasive. Nothing illegal or illicit, but questions I never expected to be asked in order to get a job. While I am an alumnus of the Bronx High School of Science, I am proud to be an alumnus of Babson College. Top faculty, intensive academics, proximity to Boston and for the most part, I have been blessed to have lived and worked with good-natured people despite the competitiveness of the business world. Yet, as pointed out by some white friends of mine, Babson is quite possibly the whitest college in the land. WASP-y, phenomenally affluent and as many bastions of education, slowly building an ethnically diverse student body. Very slowly, but trying to do so, nonetheless. The interviewer asked me why I didn't consider attending a historically black college (HBCU). I recall arguing with a few folks from high school about not applying to one, saying that while there are some top-notch schools such as Morehouse in the ranks, the most important factors for my choice had absolutely nothing to do with my skin color. As naïve as that sounds to folks, it's the truth to this day. I told the gentleman the truth; I wanted to go to a school not too far from home and I wanted to go to what is the true source of power in this country. While minorities are certainly capable of wielding economic power equal to our white brethren, the reality is that this is yet to be the case. Having been a football player in his youth, my dad gave me a nugget of wisdom; before you change the game, you have to know how to play it first. That last line was the reason why I chose Babson. It's why I have taken this winding road towards my professional career, personal happiness and the overall benefit for those that stand with me.

What does that have to do with Smith and Dungy? The same that is has to do with Herm Edwards, Romeo Crennel, Marvin Lewis and now, Mike Tomlin. The same for Ozzie Newsome, Rick Smith and now Jerry Reese. Each man wanted to be judged by their merits, having been through the trenches as former players. Each man wanted to be respected for their prowess as their coaching, teaching, scouting and managing records have shown to their peers and players. Each man wanted as fair of a shot as the next man. I would argue as many of us minorities participating in society that at the end of the day, these men did not want to be acknowledged as a black coach or general manager. Even the controversial Bob Johnson may rather be recognized as a businessman and the owner of the Charlotte Bobcats as opposed to being the first black majority owner in North American sports history. The same goes for Arte Moreno (Anaheim Angels); to be more than the first Latino majority owner. Each of these men climbed the ranks in sports being well aware of the barriers on management and ownership. They could play, but they can't run the business? Just plain retarded. How did they respond? They hustled. They observed. They waited patiently, but never rested on their laurels or waited for an uproar. They kept hustling and observing. They believed that eventually, they would be taken for their merit, even if they had to politick. They knew that whether asked or not, they were carrying a mantle for those to follow and those who are watching. They wanted to be their own men, not having been denoted as the 'first'. Period. And just as in my own life, they knew that not every white person would stiff-arm them from their goal. My dad would have said they learned how to play the game. Just as one of the few regular black sportswriters in New York City is trying to do.

In his press conference after toppling the Saints, Smith said, "it would feel even better to be the first African-American coach to hold up the world championship trophy." While this is guaranteed come February 4th, I'm going to continue to wait for the first day that we don't have to recognize anything but our merit.